Who are we and what is of Gifts of Speech?

The
Brief History

Gifts of Speech
is a non-profit project, sponsored by Sweet Briar College, dedicated to preserving and creating access to speeches by inspirational, influential
and contemporary, women from around the world. The idea for the project originated when Liz Kent León, a college librarian, was asked to help a student
find a speech by Gloria Steinem. Ms. León assumed it would be easy to
locate a speech by Ms. Steinem, and was surprised when she could not find
one in any of the resources available within her small college library.
But this episode made her aware of the opportunity to find a way to make
it easier for secondary school and undergraduate women to access the words
of women in leadership.

In 1996, Dr. John Jaffe, the Director of Sweet
Briar College Libraries and Integrated Learning Resources, generously
provided seed money to start Gifts of Speech as a web-based special collection
of speeches by influential, contemporary women. An address list of 85
prominent women in leadership positions around the world was compiled
and letters were sent to women in the United States, Ireland, Kenya, Canada, England, Sri Lanka and other countries. In response to those 85 letters, 74 speeches were generously
returned by women such as President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and Queen Noor of Jordan. These charter donations made Gifts of Speech a reality.

Beth Wortman, retired attorney and long-time GoS volunteer, brought a much appreciated level of organization to the project. Ms. Wortman confirmed that we had copyright permission, or a reasonable expectation that the speech was in the public domain, for every speech on the site. Ms. Wortman's years of hard work made the site legally compliant.

As of 2017 the site hosts nearly 700 speeches from women all over the world. The Gifts of Speech project demonstrates the Gifts of Speech motto on a daily basis: Women's Voices Change the World.

How
did you decide who will be asked to contribute to Gifts
of Speech?

Through
careful researching of newspapers, magazines, the Web, authoritative
reference works, documentary and educational media, and news releases
of both government and private agencies, we gather lists of names of notable
women in all fields of human accomplishment the world over. We write
letters or emails to those women for whom addresses or representation can be obtained. Women who respond
to the letter or email of invitation send written permission for us to host copies of their speeches
on this site.

This site closed at the end of 2017.

What does this site do that
a speech index does not?

There
are two problems with speech indexes. One - a speech has to be published
somewhere before it can be indexed. Speeches by women have been ignored
by traditional publishers overwhelmingly throughout documented history.
It is quite unusual to find the complete text of any speech featured in
periodical literature that is not dedicated to reproducing speeches. Even the journal of record, Vital Speeches of the Day, has not had a strong record of including women's speeches. Most
speeches by women that are published seem to be published
as a part of an individual's collected works, usually late in life or
after death.These trends
in publishing continue, insuring that women's words will continue to be left out of indexes due to the fact that they are overwhelmingly ignored by publishers.

The
second problem with speech indexes is that students can only use them
when they have access to them. In the United States, this usually means
traveling to a large research library since limited resources in public
schools and small college libraries often do not provide for subscriptions
to speech indexes. However, any individual with a device and an internet connection can access Gifts of Speech.

Where do these speeches come
from?

Almost
all of the speeches in the collection come directly from the authors of
the speeches or from organizations representing them. We assume that the
speeches given to us by the women and organizations they contact are accurate.

Gifts of Speech pre-dates Google. In the early days, we collected speeches primarily by writing letters to individual women all over
the world. More recently, it is easier to find texts of speeches by women by mining Google, but they usually don't stay on the URLs where we find them for long. Link rot - broken links - is a common problem and it shows how important it is for Gifts of Speech to archive copies of speeches for on-going access. Even when we find speeches online, we must contact the speaker to obtain permission to host of copy of the speech at GoS. This is required by copyright law.

The
second method of speech collection employed at Gifts of Speech
is the frequent mining of U.S. Government documents. Congressional testimony
is particularly rich because Congress only calls on experts, the topics
of inquest are immensely varied. In addition, because the speech comes from Congressional Testimony it is in the public domain.

The
third method used to collect speeches is through volunteers. A few women
have contacted Gifts of Speech over the years to donate speeches.
Please see the next question in this FAQ if you are interested in donating
a speech.

Speeches
by the deceased orators of the 1800's were included at Gifts of Speech
in response to frequent requests by secondary school teachers. These speeches
were copied from published sources, which are assumed to be accurate.

How can I contribute a speech?

Gifts of Speech closed at the end of 2017.

What is the scope of the Gifts
of Speech collection?

We
write to women in a vast variety of professional pursuits with the goal
of making Gifts of Speech a comprehensive and diverse text-based
resource. All the women who are contacted are selected by careful research
of newspapers, magazines, the Web, authoritative reference
books, documentary and educational media, and news releases of both government
and private agencies.

The
creators of Gifts of Speech have no control over which of the women
who are contacted will respond by sending permission to host speeches, so a certain amount
of serendipity is involved in the process. All speeches which are received
in response to request-letters are digitized (if needed) and loaded to Gifts of
Speech.

When you say, "speeches made
by influential contemporary women", what do you mean by "contemporary"?

Gifts
of Speech primarily collects speeches by living women. The second
collection goal is to include speeches made since 1900, but older material
has been added in response to popular request. It is not intended that speeches
made before 1800 will ever be a part of this site.

Who is intended to use Gifts
of Speech?

Gifts
of Speech is intended for secondary school and undergraduate students.
It is particularly useful for debate-related activities. Because the creators
of Gifts of Speech do not censor the speeches in
any way, some of the material in the collection may not be suitable for
younger students.

Is Gifts of Speech actively
collecting speeches?

Active collection was closed in 2010. Gifts of Speech was developed at Sweet Briar College and continues to be hosted there.

When did this project begin?

Gifts
of Speech started in the fall of 1996.

Do you know where I can get
a video or audio copy of a speech?

When GOS writes project participants we request permission to host text copies of the speeches
and not media versions, since video is often owned by third parties. We would suggest searching YouTube or Archive.org for audio or video copies of the speeches presented at Gifts
of Speech.

Why do you feature Jane Fonda's
broadcast from North Vietnam?

This question is also asked as, "Why do
you have a speech by (fill in the blank with any name)? She is a (fill
in the blank with derogatory comments)!

Gifts of Speech is a time capsule and an archive.
We tell readers what women said. We present words as history so that history
can be remembered.

Although, the creators of this site admire many of the
women who contribute to and who are featured at Gifts of Speech,
we make no claim to support all of the conflicting views presented. We
include speeches on this site that are not politically correct, moral,
just, or laudable. We do this so that users of the site may decide for
themselves what to think and believe. Gifts of Speech
does not censor speeches, nor do we censor unpopular ideas. We find that
the educational process works better this way.

What kinds
of restrictions govern the use of these speeches?

All
rights remain with the authors of these speeches or with an organization
that represents them. The speeches may be printed and distributed free
of charge by students and educators. They may be freely quoted.Please see Copyright Information to learn more about permissions.

The
speeches may not be compiled and sold in book, compact disc, or any other form.